The Battle of the Shippers
by BlueEclipse
Summary: When three young Kataangists create the ship Zutara, they soon find themselves caught in the midst of the greatest shipping battle in the Avatar world! Will probably include most shippings later on. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everybody! This is the very first chapter of a co-writing story that is being written by myself, lightningbent101, and LOVE4ZUTARA. Disclaimer: None of us own Avatar, Mike/Bryan, airbenders, waterbenders, firebenders, earthbenders, Zuko, Katara, Aang, Kataang, or Zutara. That would be flippin' awesome, though (Especially the Zuko part. Squee!) Oh, and one more thing. Everything that is expressed about the beliefs of Zutarians and Kataangists is mostly a huge, dramatic stereotype. If you are a Zutarian/Kataangist and are offended by any of these views, please don't take it too seriously. After all, no matter what we ship, we all still love Avatar, right? **

**Chapter One is written by: lightningbent101**

CHAPTER 1

_"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the old days. A time of peace, when the Avatar kept balance between Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar mastered all four elements. Only he could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years have passed and the fire nation is nearing victory in the war. Two years ago my father and the men of my tribe journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation, leaving me and my brother to look after our tribe. Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the air nomads, and that the cycle is broken. But I haven't lost hope. I still believe that somehow, the Avatar will return to save the world."_

Lightning looked away from the screen, absently adjusting her uniform. When her best friend, Enaya, had asked she and her other friends, Love and Blue, if they wanted to support Kataang with her, they had all agreed. What other ships were there, anyway? She looked over at Love and Blue, who were staring at the screen in an entranced sort of way. Enaya had wandered off to talk to some other Kataang supporters. As always, Lightning gave an inward wince when she saw the way-too-bright combination of yellow and blue on her friend. She herself preferred more of an orangey-gold and dark blue. _There has to be more than this_, she thought, _this feels so wrong, for some reason. Isn't there more to life than Kataang?_

"Lightning," Love said suddenly, "Come here." Lightning turned. Her friend had fast-forwarded to the second episode, where Prince Zuko walks down the gangplank into the Water Tribe. "Now watch this," Love said, and pressed play. _Zuko walked forward to address the villagers. He looked over the crowd, then walked over to Katara and Gran Gran. "Where are you hiding him?" he asked. Zuko looked around at the unresponsive and slightly confused faces. He reached past Katara and grabbed Gran Gran. _"There!" Love said, pausing it. Blue and Lightning exchanged a confused look and stared at Love, who had an excited gleam in her eyes. "Don't you see it?" she asked, "Zuko reaches past Katara to grab Katara's grandmother."

"Yeah, and?" Blue said, looking more confused than ever.

Love leaned forward. "That is a total foreshadow for a different ship," she said quietly.

Blue frowned at her friend. "You don't mean..."

Love nodded. "I do."

Blue looked like she was about to hurl. "Love, that's disgusting."

"What's so disgusting about it?" Love asked, offended.

"Well, for one thing, she's about sixty years older than him."

Love stared at Blue, then at Lightning, who was staring into the distance, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "You guys!" she giggled. "Did you seriously think I was talking about Zuko and Gran Gran?"

"Who else could you be talking about?" Blue asked, frowning.

"Zuko and Katara, of course!" she said, grinning.

Lightning's mouth dropped open. "Zuko and Katara?" she said, choking back a gasp of horror. "But that's...

"Unplausible? Weird? Different?" Love said, raising her eyebrows. "Think about it. Haven't you ever felt that there was something a little too... I don't know, _sappy_ about Kataang?"

Lightning bit her lip, hesitating. "Yeah," she said absently, "Like it wasn't quite right, or something."

Blue looked at them both, then at the screen. She walked forward and touched it, frowning.

"The question is," Love said, "Well, I mean, if we did end up supporting Zuko and Katara, what would we call the ship? Kazuko?"

Blue shook her head, smiling a little. "No," she whispered. "We shall call it Zutara." She turned back to her colleagues, giving them a rare and happy grin.

"Zutara," Lightning whispered. She looked down at her garish blue-and-yellow outfit, smirking and stroking her chin. "I like it."

**The next chapter will be by: BlueEclipse**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter is by BlueEclipse. Remember: WE ARE MAKING FUN OF THE SHIPPING BATTLES! Everything about the beliefs of Kataangists and Zutarians is just a huge, dramatic stereotype! Also, none of the authors of this story own Avatar. If we did (which would be awesome), we probably wouldn't be writing this.**

Chapter Two

"That has got to be the best Avatar episode ever!" Love said excitedly as the latest addition to the series, The Southern Air Temple, ended. She and Blue both stared up at the screen, while behind them Lightning was dancing to the end credit's music.

"How can it be the best?" Blue asked, placing her hands on her hips. "There's only been three episodes!"

"I know. And it was the best of the three!" Love replied.

Enaya had called all of the Kataangists to the screening room to watch the newest episode together, insisting that they "bask in the glorious light of their victory as Kataangists" with each other. Of course, no one could refuse her commands anyways; Enaya was their leader after all!

"Have you ever noticed that all of our ships resemble Fire Navy ships?" Lightning pointed out when she had finished dancing.

"Yeah..." Love said after a moment. "I wonder why. Enaya hates anything to do with the Fire Nation."

"Ha." Blue gave a dry laugh. That was such an understatement. Enaya doesn't just hate the Fire Nation, she wants to destroy it! Just like she'll want to destroy us when she finds out about Zutara. Blue wasn't afraid of Enaya... it was just the fact that the thousands, or perhaps millions, of Kataangists could easily take out the three of them. _And Enaya is in charge of them all_, Blue thought as she looked around at her blue-and-yellow clad comrades, their happy faces bathed in the red light that the lanterns were giving off.

"I've been thinking..." Blue said after a long while. Both of her friends turned to look at her, wary looks on their faces. They both knew that when Blue thought about things, she considered ALL of the consequences, and this usually caused her to change her mind. "I like the idea of Zutara- I mean, I've never felt happier- but doesn't it seem a little... illogical?"

"Now you're just thinking like a Kataangist," Love said softly so the people around them wouldn't hear.

Lightning stroked her chin thoughtfully. She had known this would come up eventually. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens. It's only the third episode, after all."

"But we don't have any support, or a ship or allies. How will we get that?" Blue asked.

Lightning spread her arm out in an arc, gesturing towards the group of Kataangists in the room. "Look around. Because of that last episode, Zuko fangirl-ism has spread."

Blue glanced at the crowd of Kataangists. Sure enough, there were plenty of girls grouped around each other giggling, and she doubted that it was Aang that made their faces flush scarlet. _Or maybe it's just the lighting_, she reasoned.

"I don't see what Zuko fangirls have to do with Zutara," Blue said, pushing her glasses higher on her nose.

"Eventually those fangirls will need a shipping to support. A Zuko shipping. This is just the spark we need!"

Love smiled. "Lightning, you're a genius!"

"You're the one that came up with Zutara, Love, so actually you're the genius," Lightning countered.

"No, you're the-"

"Okay, okay!" Blue interrupted, a look of extreme annoyance on her face. "We're all genuises, okay?" Love and Lightning tried to keep from laughing. "You both know as well as I do that Enaya won't stand for rebellion," she whispered sharply. "And we'll have to get past her to make Zutara work!"

"Oh, stop being such a wet blanket," Love told her. Seeing the look on her friend's face, she added, "Don't worry. If Zutara is meant to happen, it will."

Lightning shushed them. "Shh! Enaya's coming! And wow, she looks mad..."

The Kataangist Commander pushed her way through the crowd towards them, her green eyes flashing, her face set in a deep scowl.

"Hey!" Love greeted her friend. "Great episode, huh? Loved the little Kataang-y hug at the end, didn't you?"

Enaya looked like she wanted to tear her hair out. "This is a disaster! Did you see how they're all giggling over... over... him?!?"

"Who?" Lightning, Love, and Blue asked in unison.

"Zuko!" the Commander continued. "They aren't supposed to like him! He's the enemy! There's something going on here, and I'm going to find out what!" she added in a dark undertone.

Blue glanced at Lightning, and their eyes met for a brief second. _She can't suspect... Can she?_

"Whoa..." Love looked confused. "What does people liking Zuko have to do with the episode?" 

Enaya wore a look of surprise on her face. "You don't know? Whatever happens in our world decides what happens in the Avatar world! There's a major inbalance!"

"Don't worry, Nay-Nay." Love smiled and put her arm around her friend's shoulder to comfort her. "Everything'll be fine."

Enaya's brow wrinkled into a stressful frown before relaxing. She smiled appreciatively at the trio. "I know. And you guys will help me, right?"

"Of course!" Lightning said from behind a false grin.

The Commander's smile grew. "I knew I could rely on you three, my best friends! Well," she said, straightening her uniform and standing just a little taller, "I must be going. See you later!"

A long silence fell upon the three friends after the Kataangist leader left. Blue watched her friend's retreating back for a moment before giving a long, sad sigh.  
"You do realize that our friendship with Enaya, and many people on this ship, will be over when we start Zutara, right?" she said with a heavy heart. Lightning and Love glanced up at her, knowing perfectly well what her words meant. They were going to start Zutara, no matter what the sacrifices were. After all, it was their destiny.

"If Enaya is truly our friend," Lightning began, "She will accept our decision." Even as she spoke, the former Kataangist knew it was a lie, as did the other two. Enaya would crush any opposition, even if they were her friends. She would never let anything interfere with Kataang's domination of the canon.

Zutara and Kataang simply couldn't exist peacefully with each other. It was impossible.

The threat of an approaching war fell heavily upon the three Zutarians like an iron curtain.

**A/N: The next chapter will be by: LOVE4ZUTARA**


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